If the job is a joke and I won't leave - does that make me a joke too?

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Anonymous

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Ok..we all know this job is totally ridiculous at this point...

Yet, it is really tough to leave it, given the steady paycheck and
15 X 15 work hours...

Sometimes I lose respect for myself that I am an older (50s) drug
rep doing this silly job, of catering and signature collection.

If the job is a joke does that make me a joke too?? I don't want to
be a joke...I used to be taken seriously as a person before the industry
went to hell...

chime in...(And don't be too mean please--I can take a few punches
but Merck has me beat up enough these days... :eek:(
 




Anonymous said:
Ok..we all know this job is totally ridiculous at this point...

Yet, it is really tough to leave it, given the steady paycheck and
15 X 15 work hours...

Sometimes I lose respect for myself that I am an older (50s) drug
rep doing this silly job, of catering and signature collection.

If the job is a joke does that make me a joke too?? I don't want to
be a joke...I used to be taken seriously as a person before the industry
went to hell...

chime in...(And don't be too mean please--I can take a few punches
but Merck has me beat up enough these days... :eek:(
Click to expand...

They could make your job tough....then you might leave.
Not a silly thought!.......
Not a joke to walk away, beat up, without a severance....
Ridiculous?
 




Yeah, the job is a joke but no, that doesn't necessarily make you one, too. However, I hope you don't end up getting let go or pipped or forced out because I can tell you from experience, that is no joke.
 




Anonymous said:
Ok..we all know this job is totally ridiculous at this point...

Yet, it is really tough to leave it, given the steady paycheck and
15 X 15 work hours...

Sometimes I lose respect for myself that I am an older (50s) drug
rep doing this silly job, of catering and signature collection.

If the job is a joke does that make me a joke too?? I don't want to
be a joke...I used to be taken seriously as a person before the industry
went to hell...

chime in...(And don't be too mean please--I can take a few punches
but Merck has me beat up enough these days... :eek:(
Click to expand...

NO, you are not a joke. The job used to be very well respected-- all of our friends wanted to do what we did. It is not your fault the company is falling apart. If you are financially sound get your ducks in a row.... I got fired last year (in my 50's). It can happen very quickly. If you can tolerate the position,your manager and all the other bs, then stay and make sure you are financially ready for retirement. What I can tell you is that I am happier now than I can ever remember. Good luck
 




Anonymous said:
NO, you are not a joke. The job used to be very well respected-- all of our friends wanted to do what we did. It is not your fault the company is falling apart. If you are financially sound get your ducks in a row.... I got fired last year (in my 50's). It can happen very quickly. If you can tolerate the position,your manager and all the other bs, then stay and make sure you are financially ready for retirement. What I can tell you is that I am happier now than I can ever remember. Good luck
Click to expand...

add you need to move to a very inexpensive area of the country if your income is low. dont struggle in high cost areas...its not worth it.
 












The job is a joke..I really wouldn't want my kids to see me standing in a closet doorway for 45 minutes while I waited for a doctor (I've never spoken to for the last 3 years) to sign my little signature pad/device at the other end of hall....It does allow you the time (and money) to do what you want ,, you just really need to get your satisfaction outside the 9am-2pm time frame.
 




As unfulfilling a job as this is, there are worst out there....janitorial, for example, which pays peanuts to boot.

I'd rather stand in the hallway for the signature, making a six-figure income, than clean toilets.

Stay in pharma as long as you can....the ride will be over anyway. Then have fun looking for a job.
 




Anonymous said:
Ok..we all know this job is totally ridiculous at this point...

Yet, it is really tough to leave it, given the steady paycheck and
15 X 15 work hours...

Sometimes I lose respect for myself that I am an older (50s) drug
rep doing this silly job, of catering and signature collection.

If the job is a joke does that make me a joke too?? I don't want to
be a joke...I used to be taken seriously as a person before the industry
went to hell...

chime in...(And don't be too mean please--I can take a few punches
but Merck has me beat up enough these days... :eek:(
Click to expand...


i think the fact that you came to CP to validate your self worth makes you a joke. I don't know what you guys think you deserve. I work in an area where everyone, the managers, DCO and reps are for the most part decent people and just trying to do their job in a super tough environment. They are not actively cheating or ripping off the company - they are not working 15 hours a week and whining about it, they don't treat each other like shit (there are a few exceptions to that but its more rep driven than manager driven) they get up every day and try and do the best they can and they don't get too torqued about it. they don't work 50 hours a week, but they don't work 15 either. Try it, you might feel better about yourself because if you are working 15 hrs a week, you are probably spending alot of time looking over your shoulder and covering your ass. Its not going to take alot to bust you sooner or later, something will catch you up.
 




Doing any job the best you can is never a joke. As for reps, some (but not a lot) are slackers, most are hard workers....What I see as less than funny (actually pathetic) is that the upper reaches of the company see reps as having a joke of a job.....The truth is that the job is not easy at all. Ive been a rep for years and it is becoming more difficult every year. Its physically and mentally draining between the time you put in, the shipments, carting, driving, office issues, and never ending computer work, tests, reading and
demands from management.....Most people would never trade their comfortable desk jobs for the pressures we have....for those of us who stay its because we enjoy the game, like running of our own territory and have gotten used to being away from an office...
 




Anonymous said:
Doing any job the best you can is never a joke. As for reps, some (but not a lot) are slackers, most are hard workers....What I see as less than funny (actually pathetic) is that the upper reaches of the company see reps as having a joke of a job.....The truth is that the job is not easy at all. Ive been a rep for years and it is becoming more difficult every year. Its physically and mentally draining between the time you put in, the shipments, carting, driving, office issues, and never ending computer work, tests, reading and
demands from management.....Most people would never trade their comfortable desk jobs for the pressures we have....for those of us who stay its because we enjoy the game, like running of our own territory and have gotten used to being away from an office...
Click to expand...

No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
 




Anonymous said:
No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
Click to expand...

Toss in the wild card of hostile management and you've got an awfully hard job.
 




The poster says rep job is "mind less and/or meaningless".....is a reps job a more a mindless job than these....?
Auto mechanic
Medical assistant
Repair man
Dog handler
Athlete
Waiter/Waitness
First grade teacher
Accountant
Store owner
Janitor
Check out in grocery
Trash collector
Assembly line operator
District manager
Hmmmm....I think reps have the most meaningful job of them all...after all we always study and we help docs get results!!!!
 




Anonymous said:
No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
Click to expand...

juggling, juggling endless juggling and they wont stop throwing more balls to catch......
 




Anonymous said:
No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
Click to expand...

I hope this helps you understand:

----the environment is difficult, we have to work really hard to gain trust not just from practitioners but from their entire office. If we talk about non product things that they are interested in we can sometimes engage, but the minute you start to move to sales related discussions, you see the iron curtain come down, so we have to work alot harder these days to weave our therapeutic discussions into quality discussions - which is something we didn't have to do years ago because our data itself was much more trusted.

---we have managers who are living in the past - detail detail detail -- fill out trackers -- reach and frequency --- TC at 7 am and 5 pm -- no work life balance -- attitude in this era is "you are lucky to be employed" which I think we can all agree with - but the organization would get alot more out of people if they understood that while I am on the company dime if I know I have work life balance, and I know I have support and I know I am not spending the majority of my time doing useless shit like trackers, trying to contact my counterparts in person or via phone individually because I can't leave a private MVX due to 1B - jesus, we can't even get out of our own way TO DO BUSINESS........ its a wonder anything gets done at all.....

I am not going to go on, others can fill in, but if you are sitting in a cube (and I've done that too god bless you) you probably think we drive around and have riveting conversations with interested customers all day. We wish it were that fun again!
 




Anonymous said:
i think the fact that you came to CP to validate your self worth makes you a joke. I don't know what you guys think you deserve. I work in an area where everyone, the managers, DCO and reps are for the most part decent people and just trying to do their job in a super tough environment. They are not actively cheating or ripping off the company - they are not working 15 hours a week and whining about it, they don't treat each other like shit (there are a few exceptions to that but its more rep driven than manager driven) they get up every day and try and do the best they can and they don't get too torqued about it. they don't work 50 hours a week, but they don't work 15 either. Try it, you might feel better about yourself because if you are working 15 hrs a week, you are probably spending alot of time looking over your shoulder and covering your ass. Its not going to take alot to bust you sooner or later, something will catch you up.
Click to expand...

It's nice that you work in an environment where you feel respected. You are in the minority. Our region is so negative it's degrading. I'm certain that Merck does not care about me and I return the attitude.
 




Anonymous said:
No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
Click to expand...

The physical drain is the endless driving, getting in and out of your car, running from this office to that in all kinds of weather, dealing with samples, marketing pieces, computer (which is heavy). Yes, believe it or not it is physically draining.
 




Anonymous said:
No doubt about the sales pressures you guys have. What's so hard for us who are not reps to understand are the day to day physically and mentally draining issues you reference. Most of those issues seem rather mindless and/or meaningless in the long run. The pressure you have from little control over your sales must be the biggest concern and what really makes the job difficult.
Click to expand...

If you cannot fathom what the physically and mentally draining issues for reps are, you are living under a rock. By now others have clued you in. That you couldn't figure it all out on your own is what is troublesome. Is your position clerical? Anything higher, you wouldn't be worthy.
 




Anonymous said:
If you cannot fathom what the physically and mentally draining issues for reps are, you are living under a rock. By now others have clued you in. That you couldn't figure it all out on your own is what is troublesome. Is your position clerical? Anything higher, you wouldn't be worthy.
Click to expand...

"That you couldn't figure it all out on your own is what is troublesome"..... I agree, it is troublesome. I wonder if any in high positions would like to "be a rep for a week". Most would run for the hills once they experienced a week in the life of a rep....
 




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